Teachers’ Perceptions of Science Education and Their Students' Responses to It and Its Impact on Society and Their Lives

Across Europe teaching Science subjects helps students to think about the natural world and the nature of citizenship in modern society and develop technological skills for its economic development. In England, an element in the Science curriculum for 14-16 year old students focuses on students developing arguments, using scientific, technical and mathematical language, and considering how and why decisions about science and technology affect social, economic and environmental issues. This study, focused on 14-16 year old students’ and their teachers’ views on schooling, science education and science and society, used a linked case studies design in two Secondary schools in the Midlands of England in 2010–2011. Findings from the study reported in this paper show the complexity of 7 Secondary school science teachers’ life-worlds, the struggle they experienced between themselves and the social, political and organisational structures that surrounded them, and their awareness of the importance of significant others, students as well as other teachers, in the construction of their professional identities and communities of practice as people who were passionate about science and the teaching of science and the impact it had on their own and others’ lives. the conclusions drawn from these data and results, including their implications for further research or application/practice.